1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for manufacturing a phase change memory array in Cu-damascene technology and to a phase change memory array thereby manufactured.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is known, phase change memory (PCM) elements exploit the characteristics of materials that have the property of changing between two phases having distinct electrical characteristics. For example, these materials may change from an amorphous phase, which is disordered, to a crystalline or polycrystalline phase, which is ordered, and the two phases are associated to considerably different resistivities.
At present, alloys of group VI of the periodic table, such as Te or Se, referred to as chalcogenides or chalcogenic materials, can advantageously be used in phase change cells. The chalcogenide that currently offers the best promises is formed by a Ge, Sb and Te alloy (Ge2Sb2Te5, GST) and is widely used for storing information in overwritable disks.
The use of the PCM elements for forming memory cells and arrays has already been proposed. In this case, the PCM elements are generally associated to selection elements, such as MOS transistors, bipolar transistors, or diodes, in order to prevent disturbs and noise caused by adjacent memory cells.
Processes for manufacturing PCM cells and arrays has been already proposed as well and an example whereof will be briefly discussed hereinafter; a detailed description of a known manufacturing process may also be found in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/313,991, in the name of STMicroelectronics, S.r.I., which application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
According to known processes, selection elements are normally first formed in the substrate of a semiconductor wafer; then, a dielectric layer is deposited on the substrate, so as to cover the selection elements, and heaters are formed in the dielectric layer. The heaters are usually made as cup-shaped regions of resistive material, filled with an insulator, and are electrically coupled to conduction terminals of respective selection elements. A mold layer of silicon nitride is formed on the dielectric layer and the heaters, and then etched to open microtrenches above the heaters; the microtrenches are arranged in rows and columns to form an array and, preferably, have sublithographic dimensions. A conductive stack comprising at least a chalcogenide layer of GST and a conductive layer, normally of AlCu, is then laid on the mold layer, so that the chalcogenide layer fills the microtrenches and contacts the heaters. Phase change regions are thus formed at the intersections between the microtrenches filled with chalcogenide material and the heaters. The conductive stack is then shaped to form a plurality of conductive bit lines which connect phase change regions arranged on a same column. The process is the terminated by forming word lines, connection lines for biasing the bit lines and the word lines, and by depositing a passivation layer.
However, known processes have some limitations. In particular, shaping the conductive stack for defining the bit lines is somewhat complicated. In fact, the conductive layer of AlCu and the chalcogenic layer of GST require different etching agents, which affect each other and are scarcely compatible. Hence, the etch of the AlCu/GST stack is difficult and high precision can not be reached; hence, also the yield of the overall process is not optimal.
In addition, connection lines for biasing the bit lines and the word lines are normally formed all at a same level above the cells of an array. Thus problems may derive from a high density of conductive paths laying close to one another (e.g. capacitive coupling) and design is in any case quite complex.